Magic Carpet was launched in 2013 by the School of Architecture and School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as an outreach programme combining documentation of daily life, community engagement and urban design. The project was first held in Sai Ying Pun in 2013 and was subsequently brought to Tin Shui Wai (2014) and To Kwa Wan (2016).

Magic Carpet transforms a public space into an outdoor cinema for one evening, in which movies about the neighbourhood are shown. The movies are produced by local secondary school students, following a series of workshops that prepare them to conduct video-interviews with the community. At Magic Carpet, community members and the general public interact with each other, building a stronger bond between themselves while empowering them to re-envision the possibilities of public space together.

Magic Carpet is our first step to transform public space. Further initiatives have been carried out to bring substantial change to society, such as Magic Tables in 2015.

The project has been supported by the Knowledge Transfer Fund of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Quality Education Fund, Hong Kong.